It was the next morning as Kita walked down the halls of Los Noches. Her mind far from training that day with Ulquiorra, she knew he would be an excellent master to learn from. However, did she really want him to see what she unleashed of her powers? If the day finally did come that she were able walk out of Los Noches and knew she would not be brought back… Letting Ulquiorra or any of the Espada know her powers would be like waving a white flag before the fight. She might as well throw in the towel now. She shook her head as she approached Ulquiorra’s door, raising her hand and about to knock a thought crossed Kita’s mind as she whisper beneath her breath.
“How am I going to get in contact with Ujikiyo?” her eye widened, “What if he comes here?!”
So lost in thought Kita did not notice Ulquiorra had already opened his door and was facing her with questioning eyes.
"I see your intelligence has not waned with your poor judgment. It was smart to report to me first." Ulquiorra looked evenly at Kita's wide eyes. "Who is Ujikiyo?"
The name. Ujikiyo. It sounded so familiar, yet tantalizingly foreign on Ulquiorra's tongue. But these things would have to wait. There were more important things to be done, like training.
"Follow." He brushed past Kita, not bothering to see if she was following or not.
If training she wanted, then training she would get at the merciless hands of her death bringer. Kita was please Ulquiorra did not give her time to answer his question, so she fell in behind him as he walked away. Slowly falling behind watching her feet take each step, her mind drifted in and out of thought of Ujikiyo.
“Ulquiorra ask about him? I did not think I was speaking that loudly for him to hear to me.” Kita thought to herself, then sighed, “You’re an idiot, Ulquiorra’s hearing is as keen as mine,” lifting her head to look ahead at Ulquiorra in front of her. She noticed she had fallen behind him about ten paces.
“If I don’t let on that my reiatsu is stronger I can show my release but fail in using it.” She thought to herself. She then shook her head, “That wouldn’t work. Either way I am showing him what I can do. How am I going to stop this?”
Just then, Kita stepped forward and twisted her ankle from not paying attention. She stumbled falling to the floor with a foul look on her face.
“Damnit!” she exclaimed.
Ulquiorra noticed Kita lagging behind but refused to slow down. If she could not learn to sort out her thoughts, then the sword that cut her would teach her to pay more attention.
"I will warn you once: Control your tongue." His words came out sharper than he had intended, yet he felt no pity for her injuries.
Instead he let his mind take possession of the fact that he would know more about her new found skill before day broke again. Whoever this Ujikiyo was, he had probably shown her his knowledge of battle or another technique. Whatever it was, Ulquiorra was determined to know. Kita rose from the floor and bowed slightly to Ulquiorra,
"I apologize for that, Lord Ulquiorra.” She then stood erect and looked at him. “Shall we continue?” Motioning forward with her head.
The silence stretched between them again as Ulquiorra led them down the winding halls. He wanted to teach her a form of patience, but he had a feeling nothing would matter after this. Whatever unfolded from here would determine the next course of their lives.
The silence was too much, “Lord Ulquiorra, where are we going to train today?”
"It is not wise to ask questions."
It truly wasn't. Where he would take her, she would not like. Within minutes the walls faded to dusky skies and the tiled floor grew dusty underfoot. Kita remained silent after the answered question. She knew starting today things would change between her and Ulquiorra, be it better or worse all depended on her. Her eyes fell to the ground and then above her. She was so lost in thought she did not notice she was back in the forest. She wondered if this was where he would train her.
"All the better." she whispered to herself.
Yes. The forest is where he would take her. But... there was going to be a catch.
"Stop." He commanded.
Things would change starting now. He removed a black strip of cloth from his pocket and turned to face her. "The rules are simple for your first task: remove this cloth you lose. Speak and you lose. The consequences will be severe if you do either of those."
She stopped in her steps as Ulquiorra commanded looking ahead at him as he turned around pulling a black cloth from his pocket. Kita moved back a step as Ulquiorra came toward her with the cloth.
"I don't understand. If I can't see I can't fight." She started to wonder what Ulquiorra was trying to prove here.
"Do you think sight is most of the fight?" He advanced with a dark look in his eye.
He had everything worked out. When her eyes closed and she was left blind in the forest, she would show her true skill. And he would take this time to hunt for this Ujikiyo.
"I know it is not. I rely on my hearing, smell and the energy I feel around me. That’s how I found--” Kita stopped short looking at Ulquiorra. “Blindfold me.”
She trusted Ulquiorra with her arrancar life. Why? She did not know, maybe it was because he took her human life unwillingly years before, and somewhere inside her she knew he would not do it again. "Blindfold me." Kita repeated more forcefully.
The implicit trust Kita had placed in his hands was truly the most dangerous thing Ulquiorra had ever handled. He contemplated what it would mean to her if he ever broke his unspoken promise to never harm her again, but he smothered the feelings like a practiced burglar. He knew all the tricks to dampen conscience and to remain on the safer sides of apathy. So he did what she said.
"Remember the rules. If you break them..."
He knew she needed no reminding. Somehow it was more of a reminder for him. His promise. And that meant finding the unknown correspondent. Kita turned letting Ulquiorra place the blindfold over her eyes. Slowly the darkness engulfed her. Shutting down her sense of sight Kita let her sense of hearing, smell and touch take over. Silently she turned facing Ulquiorra and drew her sword as he turned walking away from her. Softly she tapped him on the shoulder with the blade of her sword. She lifted her hand and waved a finger at him as if she knew he was walking away to leave her there alone. Slowly Kita then stepped back motioning with her free hand for him to follow her. Ulquiorra debated whether he should follow her through the forest, but he knew if he disappeared she would no doubt break the rule he had set in place.
"I have set the standard and regimen. You will go only where I lead."
The forest sucked up the sound of his low voice, yet he knew the carpeted pines would have another ear listening. And attached to it would be the body of the arrancar he knew was out here. Like prey, Ulquiorra thought as he crossed in front of Kita and looked for a path that appeared to be traveled. Foolish prey thinking it could feed off the knowledge it had taken years to garner. All for waste. It would be cut down and return to the state of dust under their feet.
For what seemed like hours she followed Ulquiorra around the forest, killing the attacking Hollows. However, they were small and held no fight for her. She was slowly becoming bored of his way of training. Finally, Ulquiorra turned as Kita turned following with her keen hearing. His footsteps light and his voice soft, it seemed as if he were trying to lose her, but what he seemed to forget… even though his reiatsu was concealed. He still put off a small amount of energy, and she knew that energy like it was her own. Hours later still following Ulquiorra at his every step, Kita senses woke up… Ulquiorra had turned her around and circled back to the clearing. The smells and sounds the energy that surrounded her. It was all too familiar. Her blood started to rush through her vain when she finally figured out why he brought her to the Forest of Menos’. He wanted to find what drew her to come here everyday. He wanted to find Ujikiyo. She could only imagine what he was thinking when it came to the unknown arrancar, but one thing she knew for sure. If Ulquiorra found Ujikiyo he would end his life and she could not let that happen. So Kita did what she had to do to keep Ujikiyo safe. Slowly she let Ulquiorra get some distance between them. Exhaling slowly she then released what reiatsu she was hiding from Ulquiorra and the others.
“The sudden release will hopefully confuse Ulquiorra and warn Ujikiyo to stay in hiding.” She thought to herself.
As soon as she released it she quickly concealed it once more. The reiatsu spiked then quickly disappeared. In the forest Kita could hear the Hollows become restless as they started screaming, crying and howling from their hiding places around them. She has told them of their location and now she would truly have to fight blind folded to make it out of the forest alive, however, that was the least of her worries as long as Ujikiyo remained safe from Ulquiorra’s grasps. In less than a second, Ulquiorra had his hand inches from Kita's face.
"What are you thinking?"
He lowered his hand, but it did not change the anger he was feeling. First she stopped him from leaving and then she alerted the hollows on their position. That no doubt alerted the 'visitor' as well, but who was to say. Only Kita could answer those questions, but she was forbidden to break her silence. Just then a vasto lorde broke through the lining of the trees and swung its heavy foot forward. Perfect time to slink away. But as Hueco Mundo would have it, nothing was that easy. Kita leaned back slightly when she felt Ulquiorra’s reiatsu come very close to her quickly. She did not answer his question, instead turned from Ulquiorra the second she felt the vasto lorde's presents. Quickly she pen pointed the large mass of reiatsu and leap above the vasto lorde coming down on top of him. Her blade tip piercing the skull of the creature. It screamed grabbing for Kita. She landed with her back turned, a few feet in front of it. She then quickly turned lifting her sword bringing the blade around cutting the vasto lorde in two. It was over. Kita turned in the direction of Ulquiorra’s reiatsu waiting for his next move or order.
"Not good enough."
Ulquiorra's voice was flat and unimpressed, but he knew that praise would only give Kita a false sense of hope. If she had any idea of breaking out of Los Noches, then she would need to defeat more than that. He felt it was time to attract something more... More... Interesting. That would be it. More interesting.
"If it is a fight you were looking for, then here you will find it."
He didn't bother to wait for her reply as he let his spiritual pressure flare up. It was like a beacon to those looking to make mischief and devour more levels of rank. Kita held back her sigh at his words, sheathing her sword. She then stood with her arms to her sides waiting for something… anything to happen or make a move. Then it happened she felt Ulquiorra’s reiatsu rise. In the blink of an eye she could feel her body being pushed to the point of breaking. Her knees started to buckle, but she stood tall releasing some of her reiatsu to with stain some of the pressure she was feeling. Her mind raced at how much he would release.
“He would not dare release it all, would he? He would kill me for sure and anything within range of us.”
Kita held back the urge to call out his name as she felt more of his reiatsu release. Again she released more of hers to fight the feeling of being overwhelmed by his.
“If he thinks Ujikiyo will surface at this rate he is so very wrong.”
Kita stood in front of him unwavering as she felt more of his reiatsu releases, still she released more of hers to hold off the feeling of being crushed. Hollows all around them where on the move and letting everyone in the area know about it… They were coming, coming for the stronger Hollow’s that awoke their senses.
When was the last time he had let his reiatsu rise like this, Ulquiorra mused. He felt the lesser push of Kita's trying to flare around him, but he knew if he didn't stop Kita would never be able to withstand the reiatsu of a level four espada. It soon became a game of waiting. The hollows. Kita. Ujikiyo. Who would break first under pressure...? A arrogant hollow caved first. He threw himself at Ulquiorra without a second thought, but his swing would never have reached the espada anyway. The hollow vaporized a few feet from him and scattered to the wind. But where was Ujikiyo... Would he be foolish enough to show himself like prey offered before a hunter? Secretly Ulquiorra hoped this arrancar would be more of a fight than a regular hollow. Kita, however, was at her braking point and was starting to buckle under the weight of Ulquiorra’s reiatsu. It took all she had to stay standing before Ulquiorra. Just as Kita felt like the world gave under her feet she was caught in someone’s arms and wisked away. She could feel the air rush past her face. When as quickly as it started it stopped. She was laying on the ground and she heard the soft voice of Ujikiyo as he removed her blindfold.
“Was that bastard trying to kill you?”
Kita pushed him away from her with urgency in her eyes, and in a breathless whisper told him.
“Go. Now! Hurry!”
Ujikiyo heeded her warning and took off from her side. Kita then lay there waiting for the inevitable punishment from Ulquiorra. Walking slowly to Kita, he would not yell. Or raise his voice. Or even get angry. Ulquiorra would simply get: answers. He allowed his crippling spiritual pressure to drop as he looked down his nose at Kita. In one hand he held his sword leveled at her neck and in the other, the blindfold.
"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you." His voice remained flat, yet his eyes held an unquenchable fire. Why were rules so hard to obey for her? She would turn in time... He would make sure of that.
She shook her head, not caring how he took it, “I did not remove it.”
At this point in the game he was either going to kill her or demand she take him to the Hollow that saved her. Either way in the end someone was going to die. Kita was too tired to say anything else as she laid to the ground beneath Ulquiorra his sword at her throat.
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- Part 11 Left for Dead:
